Built on an extremely steep and rocky site, this pool is a design triumph, maximising both a limited space and elevated views

Living on an extremely steep block, the owners of this home initially thought a pool was out of the question — until they saw potential in the elevated area of their front yard. Urban Escape was presented with the challenging task of creating a raised pool that would not only be visually discreet and appealing from the street below, but aesthetically striking from the home.

This contemporary pool does just that. Its unique shape moulds with the home and the terrain in a curved fashion, allowing swimmers to make the most of their bird’s-eye view of the street below. The pool has been designed so that swimmers remain hidden to the onlooker, but still have the option of peering over the edge at any time.

Given the lack of space, a small but versatile paved area surrounds the pool, providing an area for bathers to lounge and relax. A second tier of outdoor living space is located above the pool on another level of the home. This upper level is equipped with a barbecue and outdoor setting, enabling the homeowners to entertain their guests and use the pool on both levels simultaneously.

Building this pool was a welcome challenge for Urban Escape, which organised rock excavation, underpinning of the house and pool peering. In addition to this, due to the pool’s unconventional position, all services to the house needed to be redirected and machinery and materials craned in.

Urban Escape was also responsible for the landscaping of this raised oasis. Using golden cane palms, agave and gymea lilies, the area has been transformed with foliage and colour. Smaller plants such as chalk sticks, rhaphiolepsis and lomandras were used to blend areas and frangipanis were planted beyond the pool edge for their height and beautiful scent. In time the frangipanis will grow, creating a beautiful visual from the poolside areas and will drop the occasional flower into the pool, creating a resort-style feel.

Mood lighting has been used effectively to not only create a romantic outdoor ambience, but to also highlight the pool, sandstone steps and the trees.

This project is a true example of how employing one company to organise and construct both the pool and landscaping can make a challenging project flow smoothly and result in a flawlessly finished product.